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Speaker 1: Probably about a month ago. I was looking for one

2
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Speaker 1: particular piece of information, so I started digging through. There

3
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Speaker 1: were actually the physical notepads from the investigators from way

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Speaker 1: back when in the eighties.

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Speaker 2: Cold case Detective Danny Smith has been investigating the nineteen

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Speaker 2: eighty six murder of Billy Halburn and has left no

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Speaker 2: stone unturned.

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Speaker 1: And I started looking through and there was one handwritten

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Speaker 1: note and it was small. It was two sentences, and

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Speaker 1: it said Officer Ellis advised that there was a suspicious

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Speaker 1: car and this is the description of the car. He

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Speaker 1: got the information from the tipster and Keith Ellis the

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Speaker 1: ls is my dad's.

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Speaker 2: Name, Danny's father. He was a cop too, right here

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Speaker 2: in Miramar, Florid. What are the odds father and son

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Speaker 2: working the same case nearly forty years apart.

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Speaker 1: And he was in one of the notes of one

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Speaker 1: of the investigators. It blew my mind. And then as

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Speaker 1: the days went on, I just kept thinking about it,

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Speaker 1: and I was amazed that here I am working a

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Speaker 1: case thirty seven years later, that I'm going to see

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Speaker 1: my dad's name in some of the notes that he

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Speaker 1: theoretically had some information on the case.

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Speaker 2: I'm Scott Weinberger, investigative journalist and former deputy sheriff, and

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Speaker 2: this is cold blooded.

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Speaker 3: The Apollogym murders.

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Speaker 2: Detective Danny Smith moved to South Florida when he was

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Speaker 2: a kid. But back then, it wasn't murder that was

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Speaker 2: on his mind. It was baseball.

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Speaker 1: So that was essentially my life. I would wake up

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Speaker 1: and I would think about baseball and making it to

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Speaker 1: the big leagues, and go to go to school, my work,

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Speaker 1: and then I'd be at the ballfield until nine ten

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Speaker 1: o'clock at night, and then I just do it over

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Speaker 1: again the next day.

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Speaker 2: By college, it was clear that Danny not only had

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Speaker 2: the talent to make it to the pros, he had

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Speaker 2: to drive that unrelenting desire to defy what can seem

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Speaker 2: like insurmountable odds.

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Speaker 1: It is a grind. You just have to keep going

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Speaker 1: and going and going, and whenever you feel like you've

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Speaker 1: lost or it's not gonna happen for you, you just

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Speaker 1: gotta find something else.

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Speaker 2: But Danny's dad was a cop, first right here at

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Speaker 2: Miramar and then at the Miami Dade Police Department, so

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Speaker 2: the poll to a career in law enforcement was always there,

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Speaker 2: tugging at his sleeve.

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Speaker 1: Nice first second third year of college, I started to

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Speaker 1: really give it some serious thought, and I figured, you

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Speaker 1: know what, let me give it a shot, and if

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Speaker 1: the big leagues don't work out for me, then I

52
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Speaker 1: got to have a fallback.

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Speaker 2: So during his senior year in college, while staring down

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Speaker 2: pitchers and batting over four hundred, Danny put in a

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Speaker 2: few applications for a job in law enforcement.

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Speaker 1: And then I got picked up after my senior year

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Speaker 1: of college to go play pro ball in upstate New York.

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Speaker 1: So while I was up there, I ended up getting

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Speaker 1: a call from Nearmore Police saying that they were going

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Speaker 1: to hire me, and they wanted me to come down.

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Speaker 1: The academy starts in two weeks, and at the time,

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Speaker 1: we were in our playoffs up there, so we finished

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Speaker 1: up our playoffs, I had to get released from my

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Speaker 1: contract to come straight down to South Florida, get fitted

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Speaker 1: for my academy uniforms, and I went straight to the

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Speaker 1: police adademy.

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Speaker 2: In law enforcement, Danny saw the same kind of brotherhood

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Speaker 2: he did in baseball, the team work and the necessity

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Speaker 2: of knowing that you have someone else's back and they

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Speaker 2: have yours.

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Speaker 1: Growing up, I always saw my dad around his police

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Speaker 1: officer friends, and it seemed like a family. It would

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Speaker 1: bring out a side of him that we didn't really

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Speaker 1: see in the house. I didn't quite understand it, especially

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Speaker 1: being so young. I didn't understand how he would tell

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Speaker 1: me that he's willing to get his life for somebody else.

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Speaker 1: It's life or death. And they beat that into you

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Speaker 1: in the academy, that this is the real deal and

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Speaker 1: you can go to work and not come home. And

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Speaker 1: I was happy to see everyone really take that seriously.

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Speaker 2: When Danny decided to reopen the nearly forty year old

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Speaker 2: unsolved murder of Billy Halpern, he knew it would be

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Speaker 2: a long shot, but he loved the grind and he

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Speaker 2: wasn't afraid to swing for the fences.

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Speaker 1: I was, and still am, very competitive, and I hate

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Speaker 1: to lose. I will do anything that I can to

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Speaker 1: not lose.

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Speaker 2: The fact that his own father had worked the same

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Speaker 2: case was not just a bit of cosmic kismet. It

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Speaker 2: was a personal connection to a crime that had cast

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Speaker 2: a dark cloud over this community for decades.

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Speaker 1: It struck me that I wish that he was around,

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Speaker 1: that I could talk to him about it and get

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Speaker 1: his idea of how impactful the case was to the

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Speaker 1: community and everything that was done for the investigation, that

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Speaker 1: he would be able to actually give me some inside information.

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Speaker 2: Danny's father died in two thousand and five after three

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Speaker 2: decades in law enforcement. Watching Danny scribble notes in his notepad,

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Speaker 2: I thought about how some cases can create a bond

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Speaker 2: between cops that spans.

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Speaker 3: Not just years, but generations.

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Speaker 2: How sweet it would be to knock this one out

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Speaker 2: of the park and to win one for his old man.

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Speaker 3: There's the wife and there's him.

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Speaker 4: He's there with the wife.

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Speaker 5: Just hey, hello, Hey, Danny Smith, how are you.

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Speaker 2: There were a lot of names in Billy's case file.

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Speaker 2: Some were people that Miramar or Brad Sheriff's thought might

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Speaker 2: have knowledge of Billy's murder.

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Speaker 3: Some were just friends of Billy's.

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Speaker 2: Or guys that hung around the beach or at the

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Speaker 2: Apollo Gym. As part of this investigation, Danny and I

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Speaker 2: both knew but have to track down as as many

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Speaker 2: of these names as possible, But getting them to talk

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Speaker 2: that was another story.

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Speaker 1: So the reason that I'm reaching out to actually a

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Speaker 1: bunch of people. I'll probably give you a bunch of

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Speaker 1: names that are going to kind of come back to you.

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Speaker 2: Danny was talking with someone that had grown up in

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Speaker 2: Hollywood Beach and knew both Billy and Laurie Halpern. His

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Speaker 2: hesitancy to talk made it clear to us that the

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Speaker 2: fear of reprisal from whoever killed Billy was still palpable,

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Speaker 2: even forty years after his murder.

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Speaker 1: Okay, we actually got a chance to speak to Laurie

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Speaker 1: and a couple other people, but as you can imagine.

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Speaker 5: It's been a long time.

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Speaker 1: We need to talk to as many people as possible.

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Speaker 1: There's really no expiration on an investigation for homicide if

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Speaker 1: it's not solved.

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Speaker 2: But he may also have had other reasons why he

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Speaker 2: was still hesitant to talk to police. According to the

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Speaker 2: case file, this guy sold his share of dope back

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Speaker 2: in the day and did some time in prison as

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Speaker 2: a result. But he also used to run with the

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Speaker 2: Apollo Jim crowd, so we had reasons to believe he

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Speaker 2: may have heard some things, maybe even seen some things.

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Speaker 2: Just to give you an idea of how small this

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Speaker 2: world was, even now.

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Speaker 3: Forty years later.

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Speaker 2: The guy who opened the door was someone I have

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Speaker 2: known since I was a teenager. How his name ended

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Speaker 2: up in a homicide investigation. I had no idea. It's

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Speaker 2: something I had discussed with Danny before our visit.

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Speaker 4: But let's be clear, the person on this list, according

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Speaker 4: to what you were telling me, is not just someone

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Speaker 4: who potentially is a witness, but somebody who potentially is

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Speaker 4: a suspecting bill it happens murder.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, this person is mentioned in more reports overall in

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Speaker 1: the entire case file than any other person, with the

150
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Speaker 1: exception of our victim. He appears to have a lot

151
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Speaker 1: of relationship and inner workings and hanging out with almost

152
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Speaker 1: everyone else in this case file.

153
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Speaker 2: After inviting Danny inside, the old friend of Billy's volunteered

154
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Speaker 2: what he remembered about his friend and some of the

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Speaker 2: players swirling around the scene back in the day, Starting

156
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Speaker 2: with Gil Fernandez, Well.

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Speaker 1: Plain and simple, he said Gil was a nut. He

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Speaker 1: essentially just kept calling him the tuffis strongest guy in

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Speaker 1: the world, and no one would mess with Gil. And

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Speaker 1: that was pretty much his impression of Gil is that

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Speaker 1: nobody wanted to mess with.

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Speaker 2: He went on to recount the details of how he

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Speaker 2: had heard Billy was killed.

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Speaker 1: He was the first of many rumored statements that I

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Speaker 1: got where he said that he heard that Billy was

166
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Speaker 1: taped to a chair and had his throat cut, and

167
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Speaker 1: he was given a Columbian necktie that he had his

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Speaker 1: tongue pulled through his neck.

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Speaker 2: According to him, Billy's killers were sending a statement across

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Speaker 2: the boss and you're going to pay.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. He was adamant that Billy was killed because whoever

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Speaker 1: killed him was trying to send a message to everyone

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Speaker 1: else in law. So the idea, I think was to

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Speaker 1: kill Billy but then make a spectacle of it to

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Speaker 1: ensure that the additional people that are in this group

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Speaker 1: wouldn't open their mouths because they would see the damage

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Speaker 1: that was done to Billy.

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Speaker 2: For the record, Billy was not tied to a chair,

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Speaker 2: and while his throat was cut, his tongue was not removed.

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Speaker 2: These embellishments were strong evidence that this witness may be

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Speaker 2: working from more rumor than inside knowledge. But our goal

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Speaker 2: in interviewing witnesses thirty seven years after a crime was

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Speaker 2: not just to collect facts or illicit a spontaneous confession.

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Speaker 2: Mostly we were fishing for names with three unknown DNA

185
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Speaker 2: profiles pulled from Billy's crime scene and more potential suspects

186
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Speaker 2: to try to match the better. The first name to

187
00:11:21,600 --> 00:11:23,319
Speaker 2: come up Jimmy Heina.

188
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Speaker 1: We're early on. Jimmy Hina was on the radar. We

189
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Speaker 1: know that Jimmy and Billy knew each other. And he

190
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Speaker 1: said he knew Jimmy, he knew him really well. He

191
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Speaker 1: said he was called him a redneck from out west.

192
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Speaker 1: He said he was a nice guy. They hung out,

193
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Speaker 1: the families hung out, they had lots to get togethers.

194
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Speaker 1: But he said that Jimmy Heino was not someone who

195
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Speaker 1: was afraid of anything.

196
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Speaker 2: I Note was a known member of Gil's crew who

197
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Speaker 2: was found shot to death six months after Billy's murder.

198
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Speaker 1: I asked him specifically if you thought that Jimmy Hina

199
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Speaker 1: was involved, and the answer I got was one.

200
00:12:04,640 --> 00:12:07,520
Speaker 2: So far, what he was telling us tracked with what

201
00:12:07,640 --> 00:12:11,120
Speaker 2: we already knew. That Billy knew Gill and High Note

202
00:12:11,160 --> 00:12:15,800
Speaker 2: well enough to invite them both inside, no forced entry required,

203
00:12:15,880 --> 00:12:18,920
Speaker 2: and that Billy was too big to be taken down

204
00:12:19,200 --> 00:12:20,520
Speaker 2: by just one person.

205
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Speaker 1: He had mentioned over and over that Billy was just

206
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Speaker 1: essentially bigger than life. He said, he was bigger than

207
00:12:27,720 --> 00:12:30,960
Speaker 1: anyone around. No one could have pushed him around by themselves,

208
00:12:31,120 --> 00:12:34,080
Speaker 1: and it would have taken multiple people to hold him down.

209
00:12:34,080 --> 00:12:39,320
Speaker 2: It's important to remember here that this witness's name was

210
00:12:39,360 --> 00:12:42,640
Speaker 2: listed in Billy's case file more than any other.

211
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Speaker 3: He seemed to be the type of guy.

212
00:12:45,360 --> 00:12:49,040
Speaker 2: Everyone knew, a central cog in the six Degrees of

213
00:12:49,080 --> 00:12:53,960
Speaker 2: Separation within the South Florida drug scene, but despite his

214
00:12:54,080 --> 00:12:58,400
Speaker 2: connections and his criminal history, he was never named as

215
00:12:58,440 --> 00:13:00,960
Speaker 2: a potential suspect Billy's murder.

216
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Speaker 1: I think he's aware that he was in the report,

217
00:13:05,520 --> 00:13:07,360
Speaker 1: and he was mentioned a lot, and I know that

218
00:13:08,040 --> 00:13:11,839
Speaker 1: he was spoken two years ago, but he couldn't tell

219
00:13:11,880 --> 00:13:15,240
Speaker 1: me why. He doesn't understand what his involvement is. He

220
00:13:15,440 --> 00:13:18,679
Speaker 1: liked to say that he's not a fighter. He's not

221
00:13:18,720 --> 00:13:21,520
Speaker 1: someone that would want to fight with any of these guys.

222
00:13:22,440 --> 00:13:25,600
Speaker 2: However, according to the case file, there was a tip

223
00:13:25,720 --> 00:13:29,280
Speaker 2: from an anonymous caller in the aftermath of Billy's murder

224
00:13:29,640 --> 00:13:32,000
Speaker 2: that seemed to suggest otherwise.

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Speaker 1: Now, one of the reasons that he was really high

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Speaker 1: on my suspect lists or people that I wanted to

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Speaker 1: talk to, is because there was mentioned that he had

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Speaker 1: a cut on his hand just days after Billy's murder,

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Speaker 1: and I really wanted to talk to him about that

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Speaker 1: cut because as we all know any violence done with

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Speaker 1: a sharp edged instrument, oftentimes the perpetrator or perpetrators are

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Speaker 1: going to have some kind of a cut.

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Speaker 2: Unsurprisingly, he denied any memory of an inn injury to

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Speaker 2: his hand during the time of Billy's murder. And I

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Speaker 2: don't think Danny or I thought he was someone who

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Speaker 2: either had the motive or the temperament to be Billy's killer.

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Speaker 2: But sometimes a little bit of pressure can trigger a

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Speaker 2: person's sense of self preservation. Darring loose new facts, rumors,

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Speaker 2: and most importantly names.

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Speaker 1: His first mention was Mike Carbone. He knew him, they

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Speaker 1: were friends, they hung out of the beach, but he

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Speaker 1: said he was a crazy guy. He was one of

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Speaker 1: those guys that nobody really, I don't think, wanted to

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Speaker 1: mess with, just because you just didn't know what he

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Speaker 1: would do.

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Speaker 2: Michael Carbone was an associate of Gills from the Apollo Jim.

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Speaker 2: He was also who turned state's witness against Gil Fernandez

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Speaker 2: and berg Christi in the Danger Road triple murders. From

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Speaker 2: what we had gathered, Carbone had exchanged his testimony for

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Speaker 2: immunity at a spot in the witness relocation program. What

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Speaker 2: we had not heard was that he had any role

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Speaker 2: in Billy's murder.

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Speaker 1: He feels that not only could he be involved, he

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Speaker 1: actually felt that he was involved. He didn't have any

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Speaker 1: information to back that up, but he feels pretty strongly

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Speaker 1: that Mike Carbone was in that count home with Billy.

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Speaker 2: It's a pretty big accusation, one that we only include

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Speaker 2: here with the caveat that this is all speculation, not

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Speaker 2: the conclusion of law enforcement. So was this witness just

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Speaker 2: repeating more rumors, maybe even deflecting suspicion away from himself,

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Speaker 2: or was there any truth behind it. Mike Carbone had

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Speaker 2: admitted to state and federal prosecutors that he was present

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Speaker 2: at Gill's execution of three men in nineteen eighty three.

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Speaker 2: Wasn't it possible that he could have been also part

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Speaker 2: of a crew that ambushed Billy Halpern two years later?

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Speaker 2: Was it possible that it was his DNA on the

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Speaker 2: electrical tape found tied around Billy's wrists. If so, we

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Speaker 2: might be out of luck, because if Michael Carbone was

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Speaker 2: still in witness.

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Speaker 3: Protection, he was a ghost.

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Speaker 2: But what if Detective Danny Smith could find him. It

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Speaker 2: wasn't out of the realm of possibility. After all, some

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Speaker 2: ghosts just can't resist a trip home to their old haunts.

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Speaker 6: All right, it's right there, yep, just walking ahead, Yep,

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Speaker 6: where the four by four is?

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Speaker 5: That's hey? How you doing man? Hey, Poppy? Yeah, I'm

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Speaker 5: not worried about it.

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Speaker 2: Here's the thing about witnesses, they don't always agree, which

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Speaker 2: is why when you think you're onto one theory, it's

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Speaker 2: best not to hold on too tight.

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Speaker 1: My name is Danny Smith. I'm a detective memory police spartman.

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Speaker 1: This is Scott Weinberger. It's gonna sound weird. No one's

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Speaker 1: in trouble. We're actually reopening an old case and your

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Speaker 1: name came up.

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Speaker 2: The man with the dog again, we're protecting his identity

286
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Speaker 2: here is not only familiar with Billy Halpern's murder, but

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Speaker 2: he ran in the same Apollo crowd and he was

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Speaker 2: just as skittish about talking to Danny. Danny decided to

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Speaker 2: float the name Michael Carbone and get his take on

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Speaker 2: the theory that he might have been involved in Billy's murder.

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Speaker 1: He was adamant that Carbone is not a killer. He

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Speaker 1: said that he knew Carbone. He grew up with the

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Speaker 1: guy and he's known him for many, many years, and

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Speaker 1: he just flat out said he's not a killer. He

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Speaker 1: wouldn't kill he hurt someone like that. Now I had

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Speaker 1: to look at that, and with the understanding that he

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Speaker 1: was involved in that nineteen eighty three triple murder, So

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Speaker 1: I can't say that he wouldn't hurt anyone because he

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Speaker 1: was there. He was complicit in that.

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Speaker 2: Asked what he thought about Carbone's role in Gill's crew,

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Speaker 2: he described someone entirely different than the enforcer portrayed by

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Speaker 2: our previous witness.

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Speaker 1: So he had said that Carbone was he was a

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Speaker 1: big guy, and being in big guy, I got the impression,

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Speaker 1: at least from his body language, that Carbone's size may

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Speaker 1: have turned people from wanting to give a toe to

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Speaker 1: toe with him. But he really said Carbone was just,

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Speaker 1: to use a different word, he was just a win.

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00:18:57,400 --> 00:19:00,960
Speaker 2: In other words, he thought Carbone was nothing more than

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00:19:01,160 --> 00:19:06,000
Speaker 2: show muscled, although his participation in the Danger Road murders

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00:19:06,240 --> 00:19:10,639
Speaker 2: belies that description. As for why so many members of

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00:19:10,680 --> 00:19:14,719
Speaker 2: the Apollo wound up dead, his take was similar to

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00:19:14,760 --> 00:19:20,359
Speaker 2: what many people had told us. Drugs, shakedowns and eliminating

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Speaker 2: potential informants. In his words, when you mess around with

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Speaker 2: the wrong people, shit happens. It was the kind of

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Speaker 2: South Florida fatalism that Danny and I had grown accustomed.

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Speaker 2: Without physical evidence, the information shared by these witnesses was

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00:19:37,119 --> 00:19:41,120
Speaker 2: still just conjecture, and the case no more solved than

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00:19:41,160 --> 00:19:46,360
Speaker 2: it was thirty seven years ago. But Danny Smith had

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00:19:46,400 --> 00:19:52,440
Speaker 2: something those investigators didn't have, DNA, and with three viable

321
00:19:52,520 --> 00:19:56,840
Speaker 2: but unknown male DNA profiles retrieved from the tape around

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Speaker 2: Billy's wrists, Danny knew it was high time to start

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Speaker 2: using that DNA to separate rumor from fact.

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Speaker 7: DNA. You know, we're at the point in time where

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Speaker 7: it's almost expected jurors when we go into court, they

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Speaker 7: expect DNA evidence to be on a case.

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Speaker 2: Christina Sovito is the daughter of scientist parents, so she

328
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Speaker 2: always thought she would be destined for a lab quote.

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Speaker 7: But I'll say it shows like bones and CSI and

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Speaker 7: things like that. You know, they call it kind of

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Speaker 7: like the CSI effect. I always thought this was something

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Speaker 7: I kind of wanted to do.

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Speaker 2: Christina started her career in the Army before joining DNA

334
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Speaker 2: Labs International, a private laboratory in Deerfield Beach and.

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Speaker 7: The primary focus of the Armed Forces, identification is to

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Speaker 7: identify fallen soldiers, So my section primarily dealed with remains

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00:20:54,160 --> 00:20:58,040
Speaker 7: from World War I, World War Two, the Korean and

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Speaker 7: the Vietnam wars.

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00:21:00,240 --> 00:21:03,520
Speaker 2: Her mission was not just to identify unknown soldiers, but

340
00:21:03,880 --> 00:21:07,399
Speaker 2: to bring them home, and she brings that same dedication

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Speaker 2: to criminal forensics and over the last few months she

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00:21:10,880 --> 00:21:15,600
Speaker 2: has become a full fledged member of the investigative team.

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Speaker 7: The cold cases are very difficult because the DNA degrades

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00:21:21,200 --> 00:21:24,159
Speaker 7: over time. We know it does because of exposure to

345
00:21:24,280 --> 00:21:28,480
Speaker 7: heat and time if it was exposed to emmy chemicals.

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00:21:28,920 --> 00:21:30,760
Speaker 7: And by degrade, what I mean is break it down

347
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Speaker 7: into little pieces that keeps us from being able to

348
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Speaker 7: get a DNA profile.

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Speaker 2: But at state of the art labs like hers, sometimes

350
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Speaker 2: partial samples can be combined to make a whole, which

351
00:21:44,800 --> 00:21:48,240
Speaker 2: was what Detective Danny Smith decided to do with the

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00:21:48,280 --> 00:21:51,439
Speaker 2: samples recovered from Billy Halpern's crime scene.

353
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Speaker 7: So we decided to combine the sample from that electrical

354
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Speaker 7: tape on the right wrist with the rubber glove sample

355
00:22:00,160 --> 00:22:03,360
Speaker 7: because of that amount of DNA on both samples, and

356
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Speaker 7: we combined that together and the resulting DNA profile was

357
00:22:08,320 --> 00:22:11,119
Speaker 7: a mixture of at least three individuals.

358
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Speaker 2: Identifying the owner of that DNA would require a one

359
00:22:16,400 --> 00:22:20,119
Speaker 2: to one match with a person who left it behind.

360
00:22:20,880 --> 00:22:23,800
Speaker 1: So was halper and one of the contributors to those

361
00:22:23,880 --> 00:22:25,480
Speaker 1: three male profiles.

362
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Speaker 7: No, He ended up being excluded from this DNA.

363
00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:34,600
Speaker 2: Profile, leaving our leading contenders to be High Note, Harry Collier,

364
00:22:34,960 --> 00:22:40,960
Speaker 2: Michael Crobone, and gil Fernandez. Carbone hadn't been seen in

365
00:22:41,040 --> 00:22:46,200
Speaker 2: nearly thirty five years, likely living under an assumed name

366
00:22:46,359 --> 00:22:50,159
Speaker 2: in the witness relocation program, and our chances of getting

367
00:22:50,160 --> 00:22:55,239
Speaker 2: a voluntary DNA sample from gil Fernandez slim to none,

368
00:22:55,440 --> 00:22:59,119
Speaker 2: but we were optimistic that DNA profiles or standards of

369
00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:03,000
Speaker 2: both Collier and High Note could be developed from blood

370
00:23:03,040 --> 00:23:05,800
Speaker 2: samples that were taken by the coroner at the time

371
00:23:05,960 --> 00:23:12,520
Speaker 2: of their autopsies on what cops call spot cards. Unfortunately,

372
00:23:12,800 --> 00:23:16,480
Speaker 2: that wasn't the case. As often happens with evidence this old,

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00:23:16,880 --> 00:23:20,520
Speaker 2: the spot cards were likely improperly stored and the samples

374
00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:25,680
Speaker 2: were too degraded to detect DNA. Same goes for any

375
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Speaker 2: DNA that might have been under Billy Halpern's fingernails, which

376
00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:31,640
Speaker 2: were also swabbed and tested.

377
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Speaker 7: There may have been more DNA, you know, thirty years ago,

378
00:23:37,600 --> 00:23:40,040
Speaker 7: but that DNA may have degraded to the point where

379
00:23:40,040 --> 00:23:41,240
Speaker 7: we can't detect it now.

380
00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:47,320
Speaker 2: Then there was the evidence that Danny Smith had always

381
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Speaker 2: believed would be the case closer the coup de gras.

382
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Speaker 2: In the original crime scene report, it had been recorded

383
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Speaker 2: that several strands of hair had been found still clenched

384
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Speaker 2: in one of Billy's fists. It was reasonable to assume

385
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Speaker 2: that if there had been a struggle as Billy was

386
00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:11,400
Speaker 2: being bound, tortured, and ultimately killed, he may have grabbed

387
00:24:11,400 --> 00:24:14,840
Speaker 2: hold of one of his attacker's hair and come away

388
00:24:15,280 --> 00:24:20,679
Speaker 2: with what could be crucial DNA evidence. But in nineteen

389
00:24:20,760 --> 00:24:24,760
Speaker 2: eighty six, long before testing hair for DNA was possible,

390
00:24:25,080 --> 00:24:28,560
Speaker 2: that hair had been collected and sealed in an envelope

391
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Speaker 2: and stored in an evidence locker at the Briar Sheriff's office.

392
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Speaker 5: Hello, Hi, good, how are you?

393
00:24:39,640 --> 00:24:42,919
Speaker 1: I am here from Nearmore police down, Andy Broward.

394
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Speaker 3: I'm here off hand, careful not to corrupt the chain

395
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Speaker 3: of evidence.

396
00:24:46,840 --> 00:24:50,239
Speaker 2: Danny had requested that sealed envelope and hand delivered it

397
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Speaker 2: to Christina to have it tested.

398
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Speaker 7: So if you rip out a piece of your hair.

399
00:24:54,880 --> 00:24:57,199
Speaker 7: You're going to see this white bulb on the end

400
00:24:57,200 --> 00:25:00,480
Speaker 7: of it. That's where the majority of the DNA in

401
00:25:00,560 --> 00:25:04,560
Speaker 7: hair is. So you know, many laboratories, if they don't

402
00:25:04,560 --> 00:25:06,800
Speaker 7: see that bulb in a piece of hair, they won't

403
00:25:06,840 --> 00:25:08,560
Speaker 7: test it at all.

404
00:25:08,680 --> 00:25:12,000
Speaker 2: But according to the evidence report, the bulbs were still

405
00:25:12,160 --> 00:25:14,600
Speaker 2: intact in this case.

406
00:25:14,640 --> 00:25:19,159
Speaker 7: It was extremely disappointing because we opened the evidence item

407
00:25:19,400 --> 00:25:21,320
Speaker 7: and we were hoping to look at these hairs and

408
00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:23,640
Speaker 7: assess them and to see if there were bulbs there,

409
00:25:24,200 --> 00:25:27,200
Speaker 7: and there was no sample. There was no hair sample

410
00:25:27,280 --> 00:25:30,920
Speaker 7: present in the packaging. Like we've had multiple people confirm

411
00:25:31,080 --> 00:25:33,800
Speaker 7: it's not in the envelope.

412
00:25:34,320 --> 00:25:39,320
Speaker 2: The hair inside the sealed evidence envelope was gone. This

413
00:25:39,440 --> 00:25:42,879
Speaker 2: evidence that had the potential to idea killer.

414
00:25:43,680 --> 00:25:44,320
Speaker 3: Where did it go?

415
00:25:46,119 --> 00:25:49,080
Speaker 7: In Working with hair samples, we found that they're very

416
00:25:49,280 --> 00:25:53,800
Speaker 7: susceptible to static. So when we actually collect hairs at

417
00:25:53,800 --> 00:25:56,760
Speaker 7: our laboratory, we'll use almost like a post it type

418
00:25:57,200 --> 00:26:00,919
Speaker 7: thing to make sure the hair sticks on that so

419
00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:03,199
Speaker 7: that they don't get lost. Because if you put a

420
00:26:03,280 --> 00:26:07,560
Speaker 7: hair into an envelope, if static comes along, it might

421
00:26:07,760 --> 00:26:09,679
Speaker 7: shoot out of the envelope or it might you know,

422
00:26:10,359 --> 00:26:14,080
Speaker 7: go over on your benchtop instead, so that's something too

423
00:26:14,119 --> 00:26:16,800
Speaker 7: where they might have collected it at the time. But

424
00:26:16,880 --> 00:26:19,240
Speaker 7: if it didn't go fully in that envelope, or if

425
00:26:19,280 --> 00:26:22,680
Speaker 7: it lashed onto something else, it may have been empty,

426
00:26:22,760 --> 00:26:23,760
Speaker 7: you know, this whole time.

427
00:26:24,520 --> 00:26:26,480
Speaker 4: The way it's described in the crime scene is a

428
00:26:26,560 --> 00:26:30,359
Speaker 4: clump of hair. Yes, so it seems like he grabbed

429
00:26:31,040 --> 00:26:32,800
Speaker 4: a bunch of it, So it's not like it's a

430
00:26:33,119 --> 00:26:36,760
Speaker 4: three or four small strands of hair. It seemed like

431
00:26:36,840 --> 00:26:38,240
Speaker 4: it was a fistful hair.

432
00:26:38,760 --> 00:26:41,000
Speaker 7: It might have been something where someone opened it at

433
00:26:41,000 --> 00:26:44,119
Speaker 7: one point to look at it and repackaged it in

434
00:26:44,359 --> 00:26:47,480
Speaker 7: you know, a different evidence packaging and it sealed somewhere

435
00:26:47,920 --> 00:26:51,160
Speaker 7: and no one knows where that is. Especially cold case evidence,

436
00:26:51,200 --> 00:26:54,280
Speaker 7: it gets moved to a different part of the evidence

437
00:26:54,320 --> 00:26:57,679
Speaker 7: fault to make way for new evidence coming in. It

438
00:26:57,720 --> 00:27:01,120
Speaker 7: could be that situation where maybe that it is out there,

439
00:27:01,160 --> 00:27:04,720
Speaker 7: maybe that clump of hair isn't a different packaging somewhere else.

440
00:27:06,080 --> 00:27:09,080
Speaker 2: Or could it be the case that someone didn't want

441
00:27:09,119 --> 00:27:10,479
Speaker 2: it ever to be found.

442
00:27:11,480 --> 00:27:14,800
Speaker 7: It is disappointing, you know, obviously we want to get

443
00:27:14,840 --> 00:27:18,440
Speaker 7: a DNA profile, especially something like a cold case where

444
00:27:18,440 --> 00:27:21,560
Speaker 7: you're on the final straw, you're on the final piece

445
00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:22,160
Speaker 7: of evidence.

446
00:27:22,960 --> 00:27:23,760
Speaker 3: What was going on?

447
00:27:24,240 --> 00:27:26,760
Speaker 2: Was the missing hair just a result of bad luck

448
00:27:27,240 --> 00:27:31,440
Speaker 2: carelessness or was it evidence of a potential cover up?

449
00:27:32,920 --> 00:27:36,680
Speaker 2: Could someone in law enforcement have deliberately destroyed or disappeared

450
00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:41,359
Speaker 2: this crucial evidence to protect the identity of Billy Halpern's killer.

451
00:27:42,960 --> 00:27:47,080
Speaker 2: Whether it was coincidence or corruption, it was time to

452
00:27:47,160 --> 00:27:51,639
Speaker 2: raise the stakes in Danny Smith's investigation. It was time

453
00:27:51,800 --> 00:27:55,200
Speaker 2: to shake the tree and see who else among the crooks,

454
00:27:55,400 --> 00:27:58,720
Speaker 2: cops and wise guys operating out of the Apollo gym

455
00:27:59,440 --> 00:28:00,320
Speaker 2: might fall out.

456
00:28:09,680 --> 00:28:13,760
Speaker 8: Good morning, We'll get started to Shorty just to gibe

457
00:28:13,760 --> 00:28:16,000
Speaker 8: a little bit of a rundown chief dollars months to

458
00:28:16,080 --> 00:28:20,679
Speaker 8: opening up. He'll be followed by technic Dan Smith, the

459
00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:26,480
Speaker 8: fifteen's sister Lori Taubert, JASUS president as well. We'll allow

460
00:28:26,520 --> 00:28:30,080
Speaker 8: the questions at the end for the detective, and then

461
00:28:30,119 --> 00:28:33,080
Speaker 8: I'll follow a spash sound thank you.

462
00:28:39,080 --> 00:28:42,320
Speaker 2: On a Sunday morning in January of twenty twenty four,

463
00:28:42,880 --> 00:28:46,160
Speaker 2: Detective Danny Smith, with the support of the Miramar Police

464
00:28:46,280 --> 00:28:50,160
Speaker 2: Chief del Rich Moss, held a press conference to publicly

465
00:28:50,200 --> 00:28:54,280
Speaker 2: announce the reopening of the Billy helper and murder investigation.

466
00:28:55,600 --> 00:28:58,800
Speaker 2: And to make a public appeal for witnesses who may

467
00:28:58,840 --> 00:29:02,040
Speaker 2: have information that could help solve this case.

468
00:29:03,400 --> 00:29:07,600
Speaker 1: Obviously, there are a few minor details in the investigation

469
00:29:07,680 --> 00:29:09,920
Speaker 1: that we want to keep to ourselves, but for the

470
00:29:09,920 --> 00:29:12,200
Speaker 1: most part, I wanted to get as much information out

471
00:29:12,240 --> 00:29:16,000
Speaker 1: there as possible and do anything that we can to

472
00:29:16,080 --> 00:29:20,160
Speaker 1: solve it. And if that's through the press, through a podcast,

473
00:29:21,160 --> 00:29:23,640
Speaker 1: through print, whatever it is, if it's going to help

474
00:29:23,720 --> 00:29:26,360
Speaker 1: us solve this case, then then why not why not

475
00:29:26,440 --> 00:29:27,000
Speaker 1: give a shot?

476
00:29:28,600 --> 00:29:29,120
Speaker 5: Good morning?

477
00:29:29,360 --> 00:29:32,320
Speaker 1: I want on behalf of the Miramar Police Department and

478
00:29:33,440 --> 00:29:35,680
Speaker 1: the helper and family. We want to thank all of

479
00:29:35,720 --> 00:29:39,000
Speaker 1: you for coming out and giving us this opportunity to

480
00:29:39,040 --> 00:29:42,880
Speaker 1: get this case back out. As the chief said. October

481
00:29:42,920 --> 00:29:46,720
Speaker 1: twenty first, nineteen eighty six, Billy Helpern was killed in

482
00:29:46,840 --> 00:29:51,880
Speaker 1: his mire More Town home. Billy was a Hollandale fireman.

483
00:29:52,160 --> 00:29:55,360
Speaker 1: He was loved by his family. He loved his family,

484
00:29:55,480 --> 00:30:00,320
Speaker 1: he was an avid bodybuilder, loved the beach, and the

485
00:30:00,320 --> 00:30:02,600
Speaker 1: course of the last sixteen months of this investigation, I

486
00:30:02,600 --> 00:30:05,479
Speaker 1: have not been able to find anyone that can speak

487
00:30:05,760 --> 00:30:14,360
Speaker 1: badly about Billy. Billy's murder has been tied to numerous

488
00:30:14,400 --> 00:30:19,040
Speaker 1: other murders throughout the Daydenbarer area back in the nineteen eighties.

489
00:30:19,640 --> 00:30:24,480
Speaker 1: Central to those murders was a former Miami Day police officer,

490
00:30:24,520 --> 00:30:30,400
Speaker 1: Gil Fernandez, and his partner Burt Christie, who both worked

491
00:30:30,400 --> 00:30:32,960
Speaker 1: and owned or ran Apollo Gym out of Hollywood.

492
00:30:34,720 --> 00:30:38,080
Speaker 2: Publicly naming Gil Fernandez and Burt Christie as suspects in

493
00:30:38,120 --> 00:30:43,840
Speaker 2: the investigation was a strategic risk. A they were widely known,

494
00:30:44,080 --> 00:30:48,040
Speaker 2: their faces being plastered across newspapers during their high profile

495
00:30:48,120 --> 00:30:52,280
Speaker 2: trial b they were either dead, as in the case

496
00:30:52,320 --> 00:30:56,520
Speaker 2: with Burt Christie, or they were incarcerated in Gill's case,

497
00:30:56,960 --> 00:30:57,480
Speaker 2: for life.

498
00:30:58,800 --> 00:31:00,680
Speaker 3: In other words, it idn'pose a.

499
00:31:00,640 --> 00:31:04,960
Speaker 2: Threat to anyone who might feel inclined to cooperate with police,

500
00:31:05,720 --> 00:31:07,120
Speaker 2: or so Danny hoped.

501
00:31:09,040 --> 00:31:11,920
Speaker 1: Over the last sixteen months, we have been able to

502
00:31:11,960 --> 00:31:16,360
Speaker 1: interview multiple people, countless individuals that have come forward that

503
00:31:16,400 --> 00:31:18,920
Speaker 1: we're unwilling to come forward back in the eighties and

504
00:31:19,200 --> 00:31:24,160
Speaker 1: early nineties out of fear of either Gil or Burt Christi,

505
00:31:24,720 --> 00:31:26,040
Speaker 1: or whoever it was.

506
00:31:26,840 --> 00:31:28,400
Speaker 5: They were now able to come forward.

507
00:31:29,240 --> 00:31:34,960
Speaker 1: More importantly, we were able to locate and test dozens

508
00:31:34,960 --> 00:31:41,760
Speaker 1: of pieces of evidence and obtain multiple DNA profiles from suspects.

509
00:31:41,760 --> 00:31:44,280
Speaker 1: From that evidence and through DNA labs, we were able

510
00:31:44,680 --> 00:31:50,280
Speaker 1: to find DNA profiles of unknown suspects. The reason that

511
00:31:50,320 --> 00:31:54,040
Speaker 1: we are bringing this out now is we need suspects

512
00:31:54,080 --> 00:31:57,080
Speaker 1: to compare them to. We need names. We need somebody

513
00:31:57,120 --> 00:32:02,000
Speaker 1: to come forward and give us information that will allow

514
00:32:02,080 --> 00:32:07,280
Speaker 1: us to identify these unknown suspect DNA profiles.

515
00:32:08,480 --> 00:32:10,960
Speaker 2: Our interviews with the myriad of people listed in the

516
00:32:11,000 --> 00:32:15,920
Speaker 2: case file. While Colorful had not really introduced new suspects

517
00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:21,880
Speaker 2: into this investigation, what we needed was tips, rumors, and

518
00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:25,840
Speaker 2: new leads to run down. What we needed were names.

519
00:32:28,160 --> 00:32:32,600
Speaker 1: Now we have a working theory on this case. We

520
00:32:32,720 --> 00:32:35,000
Speaker 1: know that Billy was safety conscious. We know that he

521
00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:37,240
Speaker 1: would not have opened the door to anyone he either

522
00:32:37,280 --> 00:32:38,800
Speaker 1: didn't know or didn't like.

523
00:32:39,480 --> 00:32:40,520
Speaker 5: There was no forced.

524
00:32:40,360 --> 00:32:44,880
Speaker 1: Entry at this house. So our working theory is we

525
00:32:44,920 --> 00:32:49,720
Speaker 1: had multiple people in broad daylight, went to Billy's townhome,

526
00:32:50,320 --> 00:32:54,440
Speaker 1: knocked on the door. Billy allowed them into the house

527
00:32:54,560 --> 00:32:56,880
Speaker 1: because he probably knew one or more of the people

528
00:32:56,880 --> 00:33:00,000
Speaker 1: that were in this group. They pushed their way in.

529
00:33:00,120 --> 00:33:05,480
Speaker 1: Once inside, Billy was bound, beaten, and ultimately killed.

530
00:33:06,040 --> 00:33:07,840
Speaker 5: This was done in broad daylight.

531
00:33:09,160 --> 00:33:11,800
Speaker 1: So we're asking the public to come forward and even

532
00:33:11,800 --> 00:33:14,400
Speaker 1: give us a name of someone who they believe was

533
00:33:14,440 --> 00:33:17,800
Speaker 1: there that we can potentially get their DNA and compare

534
00:33:17,840 --> 00:33:19,080
Speaker 1: that to what we have.

535
00:33:20,080 --> 00:33:21,440
Speaker 3: Sitting with other reporters.

536
00:33:21,520 --> 00:33:25,280
Speaker 2: I thought the one question still not being asked was

537
00:33:25,400 --> 00:33:30,000
Speaker 2: why now opposed to ten years ago or twenty I

538
00:33:30,080 --> 00:33:34,160
Speaker 2: just couldn't resist. So it's nineteen eighty eighty seven when

539
00:33:34,200 --> 00:33:37,720
Speaker 2: it occurs, and now we're in twenty twenty four, Why now?

540
00:33:38,040 --> 00:33:41,000
Speaker 2: Why is it a good idea to do this today

541
00:33:41,120 --> 00:33:42,280
Speaker 2: opposed to any on time?

542
00:33:43,720 --> 00:33:47,680
Speaker 1: Time and technology? I think time and technology is what

543
00:33:47,760 --> 00:33:51,520
Speaker 1: made this the right time. DNA technology is at an

544
00:33:51,560 --> 00:33:55,440
Speaker 1: all time high. We have complete faith in the lab,

545
00:33:56,040 --> 00:33:59,040
Speaker 1: the technology that they use, and I believe that enough

546
00:33:59,040 --> 00:34:01,680
Speaker 1: time has passed where we can have people that are

547
00:34:01,720 --> 00:34:03,680
Speaker 1: no longer afraid to come forward.

548
00:34:05,320 --> 00:34:09,160
Speaker 2: Laurie Halpern was also there, standing by Danny's side. Her

549
00:34:09,239 --> 00:34:13,879
Speaker 2: cooperation and support was an integral part of the investigation

550
00:34:14,200 --> 00:34:16,200
Speaker 2: and Danny's appeal to the public.

551
00:34:17,400 --> 00:34:20,640
Speaker 5: There's a possibility that someone out there knows something, knows

552
00:34:20,640 --> 00:34:22,000
Speaker 5: who may be responsible for this.

553
00:34:22,120 --> 00:34:24,080
Speaker 1: If there was a message that it had for them.

554
00:34:23,960 --> 00:34:28,040
Speaker 9: What would be come forward, Call Danny, call them, call

555
00:34:28,160 --> 00:34:31,680
Speaker 9: me mirramr and thank you for coming and being brave.

556
00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:35,680
Speaker 9: Don't be afraid, come and tell them what you know.

557
00:34:36,440 --> 00:34:38,840
Speaker 9: I'd be grateful, My family would be grateful.

558
00:34:40,520 --> 00:34:42,440
Speaker 1: Are you moving away from Bernando.

559
00:34:42,160 --> 00:34:42,840
Speaker 7: And his partner?

560
00:34:44,080 --> 00:34:50,440
Speaker 1: No, Nope, Fernandez is still a He's still a suspect

561
00:34:50,480 --> 00:34:53,600
Speaker 1: in the case. He has been a suspect from the beginning.

562
00:34:53,840 --> 00:34:56,319
Speaker 1: He continues to be a suspect, and he at this

563
00:34:56,440 --> 00:35:01,320
Speaker 1: point is a suspect. My working theory is that people

564
00:35:01,360 --> 00:35:05,480
Speaker 1: were killed systematically to keep him quiet, So anyone that

565
00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:10,120
Speaker 1: was killed after Billy Halpern is potentially a suspect.

566
00:35:10,160 --> 00:35:14,520
Speaker 2: Also, Danny also had one more message to anyone that

567
00:35:14,600 --> 00:35:17,480
Speaker 2: might be involved in the murder or even a possible

568
00:35:17,520 --> 00:35:23,000
Speaker 2: cover up. Anyone wondering if, after thirty years, gil Fernandez

569
00:35:23,520 --> 00:35:25,360
Speaker 2: was finally willing to talk.

570
00:35:26,680 --> 00:35:29,600
Speaker 3: And ted talking to gil Fernandez.

571
00:35:29,360 --> 00:35:32,600
Speaker 1: I have Liz. He was.

572
00:35:32,680 --> 00:35:33,680
Speaker 5: He was very cooperative.

573
00:35:33,800 --> 00:35:38,279
Speaker 1: He spoke to myself and another investigator for a great

574
00:35:38,320 --> 00:35:38,839
Speaker 1: deal of time.

575
00:35:40,280 --> 00:35:43,600
Speaker 2: The following morning, the Miami Herald ran a front page

576
00:35:43,640 --> 00:35:45,719
Speaker 2: story on the reopening of.

577
00:35:45,640 --> 00:35:46,880
Speaker 3: The help and cold case.

578
00:35:47,719 --> 00:35:51,800
Speaker 2: The press conference was widely covered and instantly the tip

579
00:35:51,840 --> 00:35:56,720
Speaker 2: lines lit up. The question, now would this appeal bring

580
00:35:56,719 --> 00:36:00,760
Speaker 2: this nearly forty year investigation any closer to being solved,

581
00:36:01,080 --> 00:36:12,880
Speaker 2: or take it in a completely new direction. The joke

582
00:36:13,000 --> 00:36:16,160
Speaker 2: wars and it turned out, I mean, it's really not

583
00:36:16,320 --> 00:36:20,399
Speaker 2: a joke. Half the people there were police, the other

584
00:36:20,520 --> 00:36:23,760
Speaker 2: half were drug dealers, and there was like a neutral

585
00:36:23,840 --> 00:36:26,800
Speaker 2: zone where they would be friends with one another, spot

586
00:36:26,960 --> 00:36:30,480
Speaker 2: each other, and then when they left the gym, they

587
00:36:30,480 --> 00:36:31,840
Speaker 2: were out shooting each.

588
00:36:31,680 --> 00:36:39,720
Speaker 3: Other cold blooded.

589
00:36:39,760 --> 00:36:43,800
Speaker 2: The Apollo Jim Murders is a production of iHeart Podcasts

590
00:36:43,840 --> 00:36:49,040
Speaker 2: and Authentic Wave Media. Scott Weinberger, Kevin Bennett, and Walker

591
00:36:49,120 --> 00:36:54,840
Speaker 2: Lemon are executive producers. Sabrina Siree is our line producer,

592
00:36:55,800 --> 00:37:00,400
Speaker 2: scoring sound design and mixing by Mark Lamar jay Z.

593
00:37:01,440 --> 00:37:06,320
Speaker 2: For iHeart Podcasts, Christina Everett is executive producer, and David

594
00:37:06,400 --> 00:37:10,400
Speaker 2: Wasserman is brand marketing manager. And with special thanks to

595
00:37:10,440 --> 00:37:16,280
Speaker 2: the Miramar Police Department, Chief Delrich Moss, p Io Tanya Ardaz,

596
00:37:16,920 --> 00:37:18,600
Speaker 2: and Detective Susie Smith,